Northbound delays exceed one hour after A1(M) crash

A two-vehicle crash on the A1(M) near Wetherby on Thursday morning (July 24) closed all northbound lanes between Junction 46 and Junction 47, triggering northbound delays of more than one hour and roughly four miles of congestion before all lanes later reopened and traffic began to ease.

The collision happened at around 11am on a major North Yorkshire route that links drivers heading toward Knaresborough and beyond. National Highways held traffic while emergency crews dealt with the smash, and the AA reported conditions as stationary at the height of the disruption.

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Key Takeaways

• All A1(M) northbound lanes between J46 Wetherby and J47 A59 Knaresborough were closed after a two-vehicle crash around 11am on July 24.
• National Highways reported northbound delays in excess of 60 minutes and about four miles of congestion on approach.
• An 85-year-old woman was taken to hospital following the collision, according to North Yorkshire Police imagery and reporting.
• The Northern Echo later reported that all lanes had reopened and traffic was easing after the two-car smash.
• Separately, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue attended other Knaresborough-area callouts around the same period, including an earlier A1 southbound incident near Junction 47.

What caused the northbound delays on the A1(M)?

According to The York Press, the northbound delays followed a two-vehicle crash on the A1(M) earlier on the morning of July 24.

The crash took place at around 11am. All northbound lanes were closed between Junction 46 at Wetherby and Junction 47 for the A59 toward Knaresborough.

National Highways said traffic was being held on the A1(M) northbound between those junctions because of the collision. That hold produced long queues on the approach to the scene.

Reporting also noted that an 85-year-old woman was taken to hospital after the two-vehicle crash, with an image credited to North Yorkshire Police. Further casualty details were not set out in the initial updates.

The Northern Echo described the incident as a serious crash and later as a two-car smash near Wetherby, matching the York Press account of a two-vehicle collision on the northbound carriageway.

How severe were the queues and travel times?

National Highways was clear about the scale of disruption while the road was closed. A spokesperson said there were “long delays in excess of 60 minutes and approx. 4 miles of congestion on approach.”

Drivers were told to allow extra travel time and to watch for further updates. The AA described traffic as “stationary,” underlining how completely northbound movement had stalled between the two junctions.

Four miles of congestion on this stretch of the A1(M) left northbound drivers facing a long wait while traffic was held between Wetherby and Knaresborough.

Official advice from the highways operator focused on patience and extra journey time rather than listing a fixed diversion map in the initial statement. Anyone planning a trip on the route should still check live traffic tools from National Highways before setting out after similar incidents.

Because the hold sat between J46 and J47, northbound traffic toward the A59 Knaresborough junction was the flow most directly affected while crews dealt with the collision at the scene.

Have all lanes reopened after the crash near Wetherby?

Yes. The Northern Echo’s live recap reported that all lanes reopened and traffic was easing after the two-car smash near Wetherby.

That update closed out a breaking news blog that had tracked the A1(M) northbound closure between J46 Wetherby and J47 Knaresborough following the serious crash.

Reporter Anna Barnes invited witnesses to share safe, additional information while the story developed, then confirmed the live feed had finished once the carriageway status improved.

Reopening does not always mean instant free-flow. After a full northbound shutdown and hour-plus delays, residual congestion can linger as queued vehicles clear, even once every lane is available again.

By the time the Northern Echo reported all lanes open and traffic easing, the full northbound hold described by National Highways was no longer in place.

Were emergency services busy elsewhere around Knaresborough?

Separately, the Harrogate Advertiser reported that North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service had a busy stretch of callouts in and around Knaresborough across July 23 and into July 24.

At 4:56am on July 24, crews from Knaresborough, Harrogate and Tadcaster were sent to the A1 southbound near Junction 47 at Allerton Park after a police report of a two-car collision with one vehicle on fire.

On arrival, firefighters found a single-vehicle incident. Police had already moved the car from the central reservation to the hard shoulder, and the driver was being assessed by paramedics for minor injuries. There was no fire and no fire-service action was required.

That southbound callout was earlier and on the opposite carriageway from the around-11am northbound smash that produced the long northbound delays. It should not be read as the same crash.

The same fire coverage also listed other local jobs on July 23, including smoke from an electrical installation in Knaresborough and reports of an electric car sparking on Ringlet Chase, where crews checked for hotspots and gave advice.

Taken together, the sources show a demanding period for emergency responders in the Knaresborough corridor, with the later A1(M) northbound collision creating the high-profile traffic gridlock for daytime drivers.

What should drivers remember from this A1(M) disruption?

The core facts are straightforward. A two-vehicle crash around 11am on July 24 closed all northbound lanes of the A1(M) between Wetherby and Knaresborough, created more than an hour of delay, and left about four miles of congestion before lanes reopened and traffic eased.

An elderly casualty was taken to hospital, and National Highways urged extra travel time while the scene was managed. Parallel local fire callouts, including an earlier southbound A1 job near Junction 47, show how quickly road emergencies can stack up in the same area without being the same incident.

For future journeys on this stretch, allow buffer time when alerts mention a full carriageway hold, watch official National Highways messaging, and treat “stationary” AA reports as a signal to postpone non-essential trips until queues clear.

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